Archive for " January 7th, 2013 "

With each new year, we are able to create new opportunities. We can shed bad habits, negative thoughts and anything else from the previous year we do not want to carry over into this new one. As we take a moment to reflect on the past year, do so without any judgments. As you come into the new year, do so without any expectations. What I mean by this is do not look at your year past and say negative things about what you did or did not do. About what did or did not happen. All of this is in the past and we can not do anything to change the year past. What we can do, however, is take this new year and create new opportunities for ourselves in both our personal and professional lives. We can create intentions for ourselves daily, weekly, monthly, etc. without worrying about the future, just intending on the opportunities we want to create for ourselves.

A great way to prepare for our present moment (not dwelling on the past year or fretting about this new year) is to practice mindfulness. This can be done very easily by sitting in a comfortable position for 5 – 10 minutes and just noticing what is going on around you. Do this practice with your spine nice and straight. Imagine there is a string going down the spine all the way from the crown of the head to the tailbone. Imagine someone is pulling the string from the crown of the head so you are seated nice and straight with the spine, neck and head in alignment. With the hands placed in your lap or just relaxed on your thighs, start to notice what is going on around you in the space that surrounds you. In this practice, you will keep your eyes open and focused either at the tip of the nose or on the ground 5 – 6 feet in front of you. Start by noticing how you are feeling at this time and name the feeling ie: tense, happy, hungry, angry, tired, etc. Then, start to notice what is going on in the room you are in. Is the light on, is there music, is it hot, cold, what noises are you hearing? Just observe all of this. When your mind starts to wander, come back to noticing the room and the sights and sounds of it. If you can practice this for a few minutes each day, this will be one more tool you have that will help you to be in the present moment more often than you currently are.

This New Year can offer you so many opportunities. Come into each day as if it’s the first day you have lived and with no expectations. Enjoy this New Year and I hope it brings you happiness, good health and prosperity and peace to our planet.